ME-1
"From time to time we receive letters from readers who wonder why there's so much moralizing in our mags. They take great pains to point out that comics are supposed to be escapist reading, and nothing more. But somehow, I can't see it that way. It seems to me that a story without a message, however subliminal, is like a man without a soul. In fact, even the most escapist literature of all - old-time fairy tales and heroic legends - contained moral and philosophical points of view. At every college campus where I may speak, there's a discussion of war and peace, civil rights, and the so-called youth rebellion as there is of our Marvel mags per se. None of us lives in a vacuum - none of us is untouched by the everyday events about us - events which shape our stories just as they shape our lives. Sure our tales can be called escapist - but just because somethings's for fun, doesn't mean we have to blanket our brains while we read it! Excelsior!" - Stan Lee Official Description "The world can always use more heroes." There is a trend with comic book movies to make things "serious." That means different things to different studios and filmmakers, but generally ends up expressed as making a dour movie, with a bleak tone both thematically and visually. This altogether is not bad and can lead to good stories, but the ubiquity of it has left me feeling like I miss something in my superhero movies that made me fall in love with the concept in the first place. It's hard to say what exactly that is in a word. One could say it's optimism but that seems fairly cheap depending on how the term is used. I would probably use a term like self-aware Quixotic endurance: the idea that one knows to continue to strive is futile but to try to do good is its own reward and on some level a success. Sayings like the “Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once," "character is destiny," "...I will do everything in my power to save all your lives and when I do, you will spend the rest of them wondering who I was, and why I helped you," "In the name of all that is good your reign of terror is over," "A real hero will always find a way for justice to be served," “One man scorned and covered with scars still strove with his last ounce of courage to reach the unreachable stars; and the world will be better for this,” being uttered without a hint of irony; people standing up for those who cannot stand up for themselves embodying compassion and courage in the name of humanity and justice in even the bleakest of times; it all seems rarer now. On one hand, I think the move away from that "cheesy" dialogue and storytelling signaled an attempt to make characters more multi-layered, flawed, human-like so that we could identify with our heroes more even if it meant we aspire to them a little less than before. The goal of the Masterless Multiverse in general, but will be more explicit and intense in ME-1, is to maintain the attempt to make heroes feel like real people, but showing them ascend to greater things: to show them become more than humans, more than legends, to truly become heroes. I want the heroes of ME-1 to essentially say "I know I will fail, I will fall short, and in the end none of this matters in some "grand scheme," but it matters right here and right now, and so long as one person remains defenseless, I offer myself as their shield and their sword against evil." I also want to pay due diligence to villains, by having a wide variety of personalities: so the very evil that is the mustache twirler, but others that are identifiable yet still adversarial as comic book movies as of late have demonstrated skill at conveying, but also showing some to be victims of a world before heroes: people who need help just as much as, if not more than, the people they terrorize. : Additionally, ME-1 is meant to be as close to the real world as I can manage while also doing my super sci-fi-y things with powers, aliens, and kinda-science-but-not-really mumbo jumbo. The most important facet of this is the fact that the superhero genre is essentially the same as the real world, meaning: before there was Knight Owl: Bird of Prey and "World's First Superhero" there was Batman: The Dark Knight and World's Greatest Detective. The main reason for this, in part because I liked the idea of a fanboy superhero similar to Izuku Midoriya from My Hero Academia, was to show what I think the true fan of superheroes should be like: not someone with encyclopedic knowledge of their favorite hero(es) and their stories, but someone who uses those characters and narrative to internalize the morals they should epitomize: Defend the Defenseless; Virtue is stronger when united, and a hero can be anyone. Notable Residents "The world doesn't always have to be changed in broad strokes - Sometimes it can be changed one heart at a time." *William Byron Lawton, Junior *Sandra Élodie Ducard *Drake David Gibson *Koriand'r *Amir David Kinard *Roxanne Snow?/Millicent Mayne? *Harold David Jordan *Jaromír Kovář *Ramona Fernanda Pacheco Pórtela *Sofía Felicia Pórtela Pacheco *Raymond Palmer *Ryand'r *Komand'r *Jared Clancy Hamill *José Pedro Delgado *Abigaíl Delgado *Harvey Bullock *Arnold Brandon Flass *Maximilian Wotan Zeiss *Seong Hyeon-U (성현우) *Seong Ji-min (지민) *Seong Jeong-hun (정훈) *Ronald Evers/Corey Mills *Bilal Asselah *Maria Hector *Katherine Rebecca Kane *Aaron Hawke *Yan Silva Galan *Alexandre Fārūq *Thaddeus Dougan Tucker *Michael Daedalus Holt *Sophronia *Henri Odilon Anthelme Ducard *''Thomas Tresser '' *''Thomas Blake Grant?'' *Harvey Dent *Andrea Caitlin Dawes *Waylon Jones *Basil Karlo *Preston Payne *Derek Jedidiah Powers *Randal Reagan *Robert Leto *Roland Desmond *Margot Ambrose *Raphaël Ignatius Dumas *Maxine Mercury *''David Umber?'' *''Niles Caulder?'' *''Victoria October'' *Janosz Skolimski *''Michael Christian Amar?'' *Eobard Jäger *Maya Waller *''Franklin Rock?'' *Darius Stone *Nadine Bishop *Ethan Nashton *Celia Forrestal-Ferris *Stanislaus Procházka *James Joseph Higgins *Alexander Lionel Luthor *Arjuna Khan *Celia Kuboyama (久保山)/Mai (真意, 真愛)/Kutaragi (久夛良) *Raymond Ryder, Junior *Gregory Gideon Godfrey *Vesper Fairchild *Stanislava/Veronika Cheranova *Rhys DeWinter *Miranda DeWinter (nee Storm/North) *Wade Eiling *Emil Abramczyk *Murray Takamoto *Francisco Paco Ramon *Felicity Abramczyk *Valerie Perez *''Garrison Slate'' *Riot *Richard Barrison *Karen Steuben *Charles Duffy *Leonard Snart *Lisa Snart *Kimiyo Hoshi *Evan Blake *Harold Allnut *Alicia Adriana McGee/McKee/McCoy *Pamela Lillian Isley *Roman Sionis *Lawrence Lo *Garfield Lynns *Egon Kruger *Victor Zsasz *Omar Trajko *Mallorie Bardas *Milorad Trajko *Afanasy Mikhailevich Faustinov *Dominika Nikolaevna Faustinova *Kseniya Mikhailevna Faustinova *Karen Doe *Grid *Richard Ichabod Blood *Katherine Moriarty *Lyle Bolton *''Subject 17 (Aarokan?) *Tasmia Mallor *T.E.L.O.S. (Technological, Economical, & Logistical Operating System) *Vakar Garr *Lobo *Mongul *Relic?, possibly named Metron *Luciphage *Freight Train? *Nol-Anj *Aquil Ibn-La'Ahad *Durante Auditore da Firenze *Bakar de Nerja *Arnaud Clément Éloi Durant *Acerbo Aqulia Bontagnoli *Adélaïde Aimée Béatrice Durant *Ratonhnhaké:ton *Côme Delacroix Notable Locations *Earth **Zambezi **Peña Dura (See Also: Jesus Camp/Kidnapped For Christ) *Tamaran *Okaara Prime *Thanagar *Warworld *Aarok *Mogo *Raga *Ungara *Voorl *Thalarion *Skartaris (Planet, not a place in the center of the Earth) *Colarvia *Qward Notable Organizations *The Doom Patrol *Holt Enterprises *LexCorp **The Everyman Project ***Maxwell Williams/Vernon Keefe? ***Robert Zirrozinski? *Checkmate **Task Force X ***Meta-Americans **Department of Metahuman Affairs ***Project 7734 ***Protocol 10 *Öksökö (ME-1's SPECTRE/League of Shadows) **Spyral (ME-1's Quantom) **The Seven Who Are None *The Order of Purity (Sacred Order of Saint Dumas) *Scientific and Technological Advanced Research Laboratories (S.T.A.R. Labs) *The Plunderers (Plunder, Plunder's sister, Doctor Light, a Hacker, Getaway Genius Black Spider after a friendly rivalry)?'' *''The Royal Flush Gang'' *Iron Heights Penitentiary *Belle Reve Asylum for the Criminally Insane *Meta Max Penitentiary *Intergang *Weaponers of Qward Notable Items *Athene noctua *The Interceptor *T-Spheres *Tamaranean Energy Lance *Lazarus (To be renamed, or Lazarus will be the name once the Order of Purity gets their hands on it) *Swarm Suit *Armadillo Armor *Chrysalis *Omni Mind and Community *Starcutter Materials *Xenothium *Dilustel (ME-1 Adamantium?) *Lansinarium/Ogunium/Erikryptium (ME-1 Vibranium, Nth Metal, and Promethium. Called Lansinarium in most of the Galaxy, will be named something else on Earth) Notable Species *Humans *Ma'aleca'andrans *Dheronians *Coulans *Talokites *Ungarans *Korugarans *Kwai *Havanians *Tamaraneans *Okaarans *Khunds *Durlans *Varidians/Velorpians/Velorians Notable In-Universe Fiction DC Comics *The Batman: Legends of the World's Greatest Detective *Superman: The Man of Tomorrow *Batman on TC DC pastiche of The Marvel Cinematic universe (WONDER Comics, WONDER Comics Cinematic Universe) *Hellhound on Netflix *Tarantula ¿To Add? *Obscura (To be named Munira Munir) *Liam Hawkleigh/Gunhawk (Checkmate/Suicide Squad probably) *Worldkillers *Emil LaSalle/Warp (Several, but Native uni to be ME-1, ME-2, ME-4, or ME-8. Also to be renamed) *Onimar Synn (Name for a Thanagarian) *Shiryalla Tome (Name for a Thanagarian) *Thara Ak-Var (Probably name for a Thanagarian) *Kingslayer (Spyral Spy Smasher analog?) *K'li Metahumans? *Cinder *Alix Harrower (Mercury but DC) Links */Official Soundtracks/ *Appendix Category:Created by RoninTheMasterless Category:Realities Category:ME-1 Category:Masterless Multiversity Category:Inspired by DC Category:Inspired by Marvel